 Greetings from the Commonwealth of Learning on International Women's Day. The theme this year is Women in the Changing World of Work. It highlights the commitment of the international community to the empowerment of all women and girls as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals. We at the Commonwealth of Learning believe that women's economic empowerment will not only support sustainable development, but it's essential to its achievement. Globalization, technological advances and the digital revolution have provided positive changes, but not everyone has benefited from these equally. According to the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, only 54% of working-age women take part in the formal economy as compared to 81% of men. This report also shows that the rate of women's unemployment is nearly 2% higher on average globally. So how do we foster women's economic empowerment and ensure that they're prepared for the changing world of work? This can be done in two ways. One, equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills for employment and entrepreneurship, and two, using innovative technologies to increase access to education and training. Thanks to grants from Global Affairs Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia, CALL is supporting the schooling and skilling of girls and women using distance learning and technologies. Under this initiative, 45,000 girls and women will have the opportunity to complete either secondary school or be trained in a skill for employment or entrepreneurship, and this is happening in five countries. One of these girls is Marjorie, who lives in India. She lost both her parents at the age of two and was raised by her grandmother. At 14, Marjorie left school to help support her family. She found work, cleaning homes and was able to earn some money, but she aspired to do more. Through CALL's partner, Mandeshi, Marjorie received training in macrame, life skills and financial literacy. Now she has opened her own bank account and supplements her income through her own small business of making macrame hangings. She plans to complete her school, her secondary school and then go in for tertiary education. But Marjorie is not alone. Shatti in Bangladesh has started her own mobile phone servicing business after undertaking a short course through our partner Center for Mass Education and Science. In Pakistan, Nadia learned tailoring and curtain making and now has a steady demand for her services. She even spends her spare time helping other women with their vocational training. A group of girls in Tanzania have started their own baking enterprise after receiving call supported training. Education and training are leading to economic empowerment, as we've just seen. However, this is not a simple equation and economic empowerment does not necessarily lead to household empowerment, where women are able to take decisions. Even economically empowered women are often vulnerable to violence and abuse. And often at the hands of disempowered men, therefore much more needs to be done. CALL has developed an empowerment index to measure empowerment at the economic, household and community levels. This will help policymakers, civil society and the private sector to take appropriate measures to achieve gender equality. We can achieve much more by working in partnership rather than going alone. We have signed an MOU with UN Women to collaborate on ensuring that all these challenges are effectively addressed. The ultimate satisfaction is in seeing the hope in the eyes of the girls and women as they achieve their full human potential. Let all women and men be the agents of change and make this happen.